View source for Ural River

{{About|a river|other uses|Ural (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox river
| name              = Ural River
| image             = Ural river.jpg
| image_caption     = The Ural River from a plane between [[Oral, Kazakhstan|Uralsk]] and [[Atyrau]], [[Kazakhstan]]
| source1_location  = [[Ural Mountains]]
| mouth_location    = [[Caspian Sea]]
| basin_countries   = [[Kazakhstan]], [[Russia]]
| length            = {{convert|2428|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| source1_elevation = 
| discharge1_avg    = {{convert|400|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| basin_size        = {{convert|231000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
| map               =Ural river basinEN.png
}}

The '''Ural''' ({{lang-ru|Урал}}, {{IPA-ru|ʊˈrɑl|pron}}) or '''Jayıq'''/'''Zhayyq''' ({{lang-ba|Яйыҡ, ''Yayıq'', يايئق}} {{IPA-ba|jɑˈjɯ̞q
|pron}}, {{lang-kk|Жайық, ''Jayıq'', جايىق}}, {{IPA-kk|ʒɑjə́q|pron}}), known as '''Yaik''' ({{lang-ru|Яик}}) before 1775, is a river flowing through [[Russia]] and [[Kazakhstan]] in [[Eurasia]]. It originates in the southern [[Ural Mountains]] and ends at the [[Caspian Sea]]. At {{convert|2428|km|mi}}, it is the third-longest river in Europe after the [[Volga River|Volga]] and the [[Danube]], and the [[List of the longest Asian rivers|18th-longest river]] in [[Asia]]. The Ural River is conventionally considered part of the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.

The Ural River arises near Mount Kruglaya in the Ural Mountains, flows south parallel and west of the north-flowing [[Tobol River]], through [[Magnitogorsk]], and around the southern end of the Urals, through [[Orsk]] where it turns west for about {{convert|300|km|mi}}, to [[Orenburg]], when the [[Sakmara River]] joins. From Orenburg it continues west, passing into Kazakhstan, then turning south again at [[Oral, Kazakhstan|Oral]], and meandering through a broad flat plain until it reaches the Caspian a few miles below [[Atyrau]], where it forms a fine [[River deltas#River-dominated deltas|digitate delta]] at ({{coord|46|53|N|51|37|E}}).<ref name=NASA>[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=5551 Ural River Delta, Kazakhstan] (NASA Earth Observatory)</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Urals river Bashkortostan.JPG|thumb| The bridge across the Urals in the [[Uchalinsky District]] ([[Bashkortostan]])]]
The river begins at the slopes of the Kruglaya Mountain<ref name=brit>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/619046/Ural-River Ural River], Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> of the Uraltau mountain ridge in South Ural, on the territory of the [[Uchalinsky District]] of [[Bashkortostan]]. There it has an average width of {{convert|60|to|80|m|ft}} and flows as a typical mountain river. It then falls into the Yaik Swamp and after exiting it widens up to {{convert|5|km|mi|0}}. Below [[Verkhneuralsk]], its flow is characteristic of a flatland river; there it enters [[Chelyabinsk Oblast|Chelyabinsk]] and [[Orenburg Oblast]]s. From [[Magnitogorsk]] to [[Orsk]] its banks are steep and rocky and the bottom has many rifts. After Orsk, the river abruptly turns west and flows through a {{convert|45|km|mi|adj=on}} long canyon in the Guberlinsk Mountains. After [[Uralsk]], it flows from north to south, through the territory of [[West Kazakhstan Province]] and [[Atyrau Province]] of Kazakhstan. There, the river widens and has many lakes and ducts. Near the mouth, it splits into the Yaik and Zolotoy distributaries<ref name=u1>V. A. Balkov. [http://web.archive.org/web/20070126030432/http://www.bashedu.ru/encikl/u/ural_reka.htm Ural] (in Russian). bashedu.ru</ref><ref name=bseural>{{cite web|url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article114361.html
|language=Russian|title=Ural River|publisher=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> and forms vast wetlands. The [[Yaik]] distributary is shallow, with almost no trees on the shores, and is rich in fish; whereas [[Zolotoy]] is deeper and is navigable.<ref name=k800/> Ural River has a spectacular tree-like (or “digitate”) shape of the delta (see image). This type of delta forms naturally in the slow rivers which deliver a great deal of sediments and flow into a quiet sea.<ref name=NASA/> In the delta, {{convert|13.5|km|mi}} from the mouth of the Zolotoy distributary lies Shalyga Island, which is {{convert|2.5|km|mi}} long, with heights of {{convert|1|to|2|m|ft|0}} and maximum widths of {{convert|0.3|km|ft}}.<ref>Zonn, p. 375</ref>

The tributaries, in order going upstream, are Kushum, Derkul, Chagan, Irtek, Utva, [[Ilek River|Ilek]] (major, left), Bolshaya Chobda, Kindel, [[Sakmara River|Sakmara]] (major, right), Salmys, [[Or River|Or]] (major, left) and Suunduk.<ref name=bseural/>

The entire length of the Ural River is considered the [[Boundaries between continents|Europe-Asia boundary]] by most authoritative sources.<ref name="NatlGeoAtlas">{{Cite book|title=National Geographic Atlas of the World|edition=9th|year=2011|location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|isbn=978-1-4262-0633-7}} "Europe" (plate 59); "Asia" (plate 74): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles."</ref><ref name="Factbook">{{Cite book|title=World Factbook | url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aj.html |location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDmX5XKkQCcC&pg=PT690q=ural%20river%20europe%20asia&f=false |title=Rivers of Europe |author1=Klement Tockner |author2=Urs Uehlinger |author3=Christopher T. Robinson |edition=Illustrated |publisher=Academic Press |year=2009 |ISBN=9780123694492 |chapter=18}}</ref>  Rarely, the smaller, shorter [[Emba River]] is claimed as the continental boundary,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPX2xgmVe9IC&pg=PR12|page=12|title=Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe|author=Glanville Price|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2000|isbn=0-631-22039-9}}</ref><ref>Zonn, p. 178</ref> but that pushes "Europe" much further into "Central Asian" [[Kazakhstan]].  The Ural River bridge in [[Orenburg]] is even labeled with permanent monuments carved with the word "Europe" on one side, "Asia" on the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.katjasdacha.com/whiterose/thoughts/orenburg/orenburg3.html|title=Orenburg bridge monument photos|work=katjasdacha.com}}</ref>  Regardless, Kazakhstan has some European territory and is at times included in European political and sports organizations <ref>[http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=kaz/profile/index.html Progress aplenty in Kazakhstan], uefa.com</ref><ref>[http://box.sport.ua/news/53251 Why Europe plays against Asians] (in Russian). sport.ua (2008-09-10)</ref>

==Hydrography==
[[File:Ural-delta-ISS009E18679 lrg.jpg|thumb|The "bird's-foot" ("digitate") delta of the Ural in the Caspian Sea<ref name=NASA/>]]
The river is mostly fed by melting snow (60–70%); the contribution of precipitation is relatively minor.<ref name=ind/> Most of its annual discharge (65%) occurs during the spring floods, which occur in March and April near the mouth and in late April through June upstream; 30% drain during the summer and autumn and 5% in winter. During the floods, the river widens to above {{convert|10|km|mi|0}} near Uralsk and to several tens of kilometers near the mouth. Water level is highest in later April upstream and in May downstream. Its fluctuation is {{convert|3|to|4|m|0}} in the upper stream, {{convert|9|to|10|m|ft|0}} in the middle of the river and about {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} in the delta. The average water discharge is {{convert|104|m3/s|cuft/s}} near Orenburg, and {{convert|400|m3/s|cuft/s}} at the Kushum village, which is {{convert|76.5|km|mi}} from the mouth. The maximum discharge is {{convert|14000|m3/s|cuft/s}} and the minimum is {{convert|1.62|m3/s|cuft/s}}. Average turbidity is {{convert|280|g/m3}} at Orenburg and {{convert|290|g/m3}} near Kushum. The river freezes at the source in early November and in the middle and lower reaches in late November. It opens in the lower reaches in late March and in early April in the upper reaches. The ice drift is relatively short.<ref name=brit/><ref name=u1/><ref name=bseural/>

The average depth is {{convert|1|to|1.5|m|ft|0}} near the source, and it increases in the middle reaches and especially near the mouth. The density of underwater vegetation also increases from the source to the mouth, so as the richness of the fauna. The bottom in the upper stream is rocky, with pebble and sand; it changes to silt-sand and occasionally clay downstream. The basin is asymmetrical – its left side from the river is 2.1 times larger in area than the right side; however, the right side is more important for feeding the river. The density of the tributaries is 0.29&nbsp;km/km<sup>2</sup> in the right and 0.19&nbsp;km/km<sup>2</sup> in the left side of the basin. The right-side tributaries are typical mountain rivers whereas the left-side tributaries have flatland character. About {{convert|200|km|mi}} from the mouth there is a dangerous spot for shipping called Kruglovskaya prorva ({{lang-ru|Кругловская прорва}} meaning Kruglovsk abyss). Here the river narrows and creates a strong vortex over a deep pit. The climate is continental with frequent and strong winds. Typical annual precipitation is {{convert|530|mm|in}}.<ref name=k800>[http://hibaratxt.narod.ru/put_kazahstan/index02.html 800 km on Ural River] (in Russian)</ref><ref name=ind>[http://chelindustry.ru/view2.php?rr=8&idotr=70&idd=691 Ural River] chelindustry.ru (in Russian)</ref>

==Fauna==
[[File:Loeffler.jpg|thumb|Eurasian Spoonbill]]
[[File:Ellobius talpinus.jpg|thumb|Northern mole vole]]
The wetlands at and near the delta of the Ural River are especially important to migrating birds as an important stop-over along the Asian flyway.<ref name=NASA/> They host many endemic and endangered species, such as [[great white pelican]], [[Dalmatian pelican]], [[pygmy cormorant]], [[cattle egret]], [[little egret]], [[greater flamingo]], [[white-headed duck]], [[ferruginous duck]], [[Eurasian spoonbill]], [[glossy ibis]], [[houbara bustard]], [[great black-headed gull]], [[slender-billed gull]], [[squacco heron]], [[common crane]], [[demoiselle crane]], [[slender-billed curlew]], [[black stork]], [[red-breasted goose]], [[lesser white-fronted goose]], [[lesser kestrel]], [[whooper swan]], [[tundra swan]], [[osprey]], [[pallid harrier]], [[short-toed eagle]] and many others. The pygmy cormorant was observed sporadically before 1999 and more regularly after that. Cattle egret is observed since 1990 between April and September (as most other migratory birds in this area), with the total population of several dozen couples. It feeds on frogs, mollusks and small fish.<ref name=fauna>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070808143641/http://www.wetlands.kz/index.cfm?tid=19 Фауна: Дельта реки Урал и прилегающее побережье Каспийского моря]. wetlands.kz. (Fauna of the delta of Ural River, in Russian)</ref> Upstream, there are more of the stationary bird species, such as [[grouse]], wild pigeon and [[partridge]].<ref name=k800/>

Ural River is also important for many fish species of the Caspian Sea which visit its delta and migrate upstream for spawning. In the lower reaches of the river there are 47 species from 13 families. The family [[Cyprinidae]] account for 40%, sturgeon and herring make up 11%, perch and herring 9% and salmon 4.4%. The main commercial species are [[sturgeon]], [[Rutilus|roach]], [[bream]], [[perch]], [[carp]], [[Asp (fish)|asp]] and [[Wels catfish]]. The rare species include [[Caspian salmon]], [[sterlet]], white salmon and [[Caspian kutum|kutum]].

In the delta of the river and nearby regions live about 48 animal species belonging to 7 [[Order (biology)|orders]]; most common are rodents (21 species) and predators (12). Among them, [[Bobrinski's serotine]] and [[marbled polecat]] are endemic. Key species are [[raccoon dog]], [[muskrat]] (appeared recently), [[European hare]], [[house mouse]], [[brown rat]], and [[wild boar]]. Wild boars had a density of 1.2–2.5 per hectare in 2000 and are hunted commercially. Others include [[elk]], fox, wolf, [[dwarf fat-tailed jerboa]], [[great gerbil]], [[northern mole vole]] and [[saiga antelope]].<ref name=k800/><ref name=fauna/> The [[Turkmenian kulan]] (''Equus hemionus kulan'') used to live at the Ural River. It might be extinct from that region.

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right;margin-left:1em;text-align:center;"
| width="23%" | [[File:Rhombomys opimus 1.jpg|180px]]
| width="27%" | [[File:Marbled polecat.jpg|205px]]
| width="35%" | [[File:Sturgeon.jpg|238px]]
|-
| Great gerbil
| Marbled polecat
| Sturgeon
|}

The reptiles are represented by [[bog turtle]]s, [[Natrix|common water snakes]], [[Elaphe|rat snakes]] and [[sand lizard]]. Bog turtles are found in all waters. Common water snakes live on the banks of canals. Rat snakes and sand lizards are few and inhabit relatively high areas of land. Two more reptiles, [[Caspian whipsnake]] and ''[[Coluber spinalis]]'', are extremely rare. Among amphibians common are lake frog and green frog.<ref name=fauna/>

With an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 species, insects exceed all other animals of the region by diversity and biomass. Terrestrial and aquatic insects make up a significant proportion of the diet of birds. Many species are parasitic on birds and transmit infection. Other dominating inhabitants of the river are [[protozoa]], [[rotifer]]s, [[Cladocera]] and [[copepod]]s. Mollusks are mostly represented by [[gastropod]]s and [[bivalve]]s.<ref name=fauna/>

==Industry==
Water from the upper reaches of the Ural River is used to supply the prominent Magnitogorsk ([[Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works]], built in the early 1930s) and Orsk-Khalilovsk metallurgical plants, and the low reaches are used for irrigation. Two reservoirs were created near Magnitogorsk, and there is a hydroelectric plant near the village of Iriklinskaya with the corresponding reservoir. Below Uralsk, there is another reservoir and the Kushumsky channel. The river is navigated up to Uralsk and there is a port in Atyrau.<ref name=brit/><ref>Zonn, p. 45</ref> Fishery is well developed; the commercial fish species include [[sturgeon]], [[perch]], [[herring]], [[bream]], [[carp]] and [[catfish]].<ref name=bseural/> The delta of Ural River accounts for about half of the fish catchment in Kazakhstan.<ref name=fauna/> Also widespread is agriculture, especially growth of melons and watermelons. The city of [[Atyrau]] is a major oil producing center of Kazakhstan.<ref name=k800/>

==Etymology==
The river was called {{lang|grc|Δάϊκος}} (Daïkos) by [[Ptolemy]] in the 2nd century AD.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ptolemy|first1=Claudius|authorlink1=Ptolemy|editor1-last=Nobbe|editor1-first=Karl Friedrich August|title=Geographia|date=1843|publisher=Karl Tauchnitz|location=Leipzig|page=vol. 2, p. 122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA122#v=onepage&q&f=false|language=Greek|chapter=Book VI, chapter 14. Σκυθίας τῆς ἐντὸς Ἰμάου ὄρους θέσις}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=McCrindle|first1=John Watson|title=Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy|date=1885|publisher=Thacker, Spink|location=Bombay|page=290|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3UIAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA290&ots=pUK4HEL0aV&dq=%22Rhymmos%22&pg=PA290#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> Yulian Kulakovsky reads this as Turkic "[[Jaiyk|Jajyk]]" or "Яик" and on this basis identifies the Huns as Turkic speakers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirsoft.com.ru/skb13/KSNews_267.htm|language=Russian|title=Chapter 2. The map of European Sarmatia|author=Yu. Kulakovsky}}</ref> However, [[Gerard Clauson]] disputes that the name could be of Turkic origin as early as the 2nd century, and instead attributes it to [[Sarmatian]] origin.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clauson|first1=Gerard|authorlink1=Gerard Clauson|title=Studies in Turkic and Mongolic Linguistics|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9781134430123|pages=75–76, 124|edition=rev.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8O-BAgAAQBAJ}}</ref> The name Яйыҡ (Yayıq) is currently used in the [[Bashkir language]] and Жайық (Zhayıq) in Kazakhstan. In later European texts it is sometimes mentioned as ''Rhymnus fluvius''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scB2O7XNYlcC&pg=PA109|page=109|title=Novum lexicon geographicum: in quo universi orbis, urbes, regiones ... flumina novis & antiquis nominibus appellata, suisque distantiis descripta recensetur|author1=Philippus Ferrarius |author2=Michel-Antoine Baudrand |year=1738|language=Latin}}</ref> and in the Russian chronicle of 1140 as Yaik.<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ru:Русские летописцы и автор Слова о полку Игореве|language=Russian|author=B.A. Rybakov|publisher=Nauka|year=1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIgjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> The river was renamed Ural in the Russian language in 1775, by [[Catherine II of Russia]].

==History==
[[File:Багренье.jpg|thumb|300px|''Bagrenye'' on the Ural River. Drawing by N. F. Savichev (19th century)]]
In the 10th to 16th centuries, the city of [[Saray-Jük]] (or Saraichik, meaning "small Sarai") on the Ural River (now in Atyrau Province of Kazakhstan) was an important trade center on the [[Silk Road]]. In the 13th century, it became a stronghold of the [[Golden Horde]]. It was destroyed in 1395 by the army of [[Timur]] but then rebuilt to become the capital of [[Nogai Horde]] in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was finally reduced to a village in 1580 by the [[Ural Cossacks]].<ref name=k800/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2ZAp-TgaSMC&pg=PA316|page=316|title=Bradt Kazakhstan|author=Paul Brummell|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|year=2008|isbn=1-84162-234-6}}</ref>

[[File:Pike-pole1.JPG|thumb|upright|The tip of an old pike pole]]
After the Russian conquest of the Ural basin in the late 16th century, the shores of the Ural became home to the [[Yaik Cossacks]]. One of their main activities was fishing for the sturgeon and related fishes (including the true sturgeon, [[starry sturgeon]], and [[beluga (sturgeon)|beluga]]) in the Ural River and the Caspian. A great variety of fishing techniques existed; the most famous of them was ''bagrenye'' ({{lang-ru|багренье}}, from ''bagor'' {{lang-ru|багор}}, meaning [[pike pole]]): spearing hibernating sturgeons in their underwater lairs in mid-winter. The ''bagrenye'' was allowed only on one day of the year. On the appointed day, a large number of Cossacks with pike poles were gathering on the shore; after a signal was given, they rushed on the ice, broke it with their poles, and speared and pulled the fish. Another fishing technique was constructing a [[weir]], known as the ''uchug'' ([[:ru:Учуг|учуг]]) across the river, to catch fish going upstream to spawn. Until 1918, an ''uchug'' was set up in the summer and autumn near Uralsk, so that the fish would not go upstream beyond the Cossacks land. While the ''uchug'' weirs were also known in the [[Volga Delta]], the ''bagrenye'' was thought to be a uniquely Ural technique.<ref>Zonn, p. 416</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdwTAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA65
|contribution="Багренье" (''Bagrenye'', i.e. Pike-pole fishing)|page=65|language=Russian
|title=Энциклопедический лексикон (Encyclopedic lexicon)|volume=vol. 4|year=1835|place=Saint Petersburg}}</ref>

The Ural Cossacks (known originally as the Yaik Cossacks) resented the attempts by the central government to impose rules and regulations on them, and on occasions rose in rebellions. The largest rebellion, the [[Pugachev's Rebellion]] of 1773–75, involved not only the Ural, but much of south-eastern Russia, and resulted in a loss of the government control there. After its suppression, Empress Catherine issued a decree of 15 January 1775 to rename most of the places involved in the revolt, in order to erase the memory of it. Thus the Yaik River and the city of Yaitsk were renamed to the Ural River and [[Uralsk]], respectively, and the Yaik Cossacks became the Ural Cossacks.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKcKAQAAIAAJ|title=Revoliutsionnaia i trudovaia letopis Iuzhnouralskogo kraia: 1682–1918|author1=A.I. Poterpeeva  |author2=V.E. Chetin |lastauthoramp=yes |publisher=South Ural|year=1980}}</ref>
{{quote| .. для совершенного забвения сего на Яике последовавшего несчастного происшествия, реку Яик, по которой, как оное войско, так и город его название свое доныне имели, по причине той, что оная река проистекает из Уральских гор, переименовать Уралом, а потому и войско наименовать Уральским, и впредь яицким не называть, равно и Яицкому городу называться отныне Уральск. 
(.. for the complete oblivion of this unfortunate event that occurred on the Yaik, the Yaik river, whose name the [Cossack] Host and the city have previously borne, shall be renamed the Ural, as the aforesaid river has its source in the Ural Mountains; therefore, the [Cossack] Host shall be named the Ural [Cossack] Host, and shall not be called the Yaik [Cossack] Host; similarly, Yaitsk City shall be henceforth called Uralsk.)}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvqYSoRvAI4C&pg=PA416|title=The Caspian Sea Encyclopedia|author1=Zonn, Igor S. |author2=Kostianoy, Andrey |author3=Kosarev, Aleksey N.  |lastauthoramp=yes |publisher=Springer|year=2010|isbn=3-642-11523-3}}

{{Kazakhstan topics}}
{{Rivers of Kazakhstan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2011}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Rivers of Siberia]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Caspian Sea]]
[[Category:Rivers of Chelyabinsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Bashkortostan]]
[[Category:Rivers of Orenburg Oblast]]
[[Category:Border rivers]]
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:International rivers of Europe]]
[[Category:Ural Mountains]]
[[Category:History of Ural]]